MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE OF THE NIGERIAN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

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• 
  
  
• INTRODUCTION--------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ---1
• SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS -----------------------
  ---------------------------------------3
• BRIEFING ON EXPECTED GOVERNMENT OBJECTIVES, ROLES
  AND TARGETS ------4-8
• DETAILS ON FIRST SET OF PROPOSALS
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------9
• Update on Federal Secretariat --------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  -10
• National Software Commission in the Presidency
  ------------------------------------------------11
  -18
• National Software Engineering Institutes
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------19-29
• Technology Acquisition and Control of Foreign
  Software --------------------------------------30-
  32
• Automation of Government Operations
  --------------------------------------------------
  ----------33-36
• Funding/Finance/Launch of Software Development
  Fund --------------------------------------37-41
• Correct strategy for e-Governance
  --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------42-47
• HINTS ON SECOND SET OF PROPOSALS
• Presidential Speech to the Nation
• Marketing/Promotion of the Software Nigeria
  Brand.
• Nigeria Software Exhibition (NISE) 2005
• Software Industry size/ projection and
  Measurement of impact.

3
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
2

• i. The Federal Government is called upon to set
  up a body to coordinate all ensuing activities
  relating to software development in and
  outsourcing to Nigeria. That body, which is the
  NATIONAL SOFTWARE COMMISSION, will operate from
  the Presidency (details on 2b).
• The Federal Government is called upon to direct
  all its Ministries, Agencies and the Armed forces
  to evaluate and use software branded SOFTWARE
  NIGERIA (list to be provided and updated
  regularly), except in situations where no
  suitable one can be identified. In such cases,
  the National Software Commission should be
  informed to draw attention of Nigerian developers
  to the gap.
• The Federal Government is called upon to approve
  the establishment of three (3) National Software
  Engineering Training Institutes (SETI) in Lagos,
  Abuja and Enugu during 2005 as a public-private
  sector partnership programme to accelerate
  production of ready to deliver software
  architects and engineers.
• The Federal Government is called upon to enhance
  the customs tariff on imported foreign software
  from 21/2 to 60 partly to generate some revenue
  for the Software Development Fund and partly to
  curb discrimination against the SOFTWARE NIGERIA
  brands which clearly require to be preferred at
  home in order to be attractive abroad.
• Effective date should be 1st January 2005 as
  part of current fiscal measures.
• The Federal Government is called upon to further
  encourage the full automation of the activities
  of its operations and those of the security
  services as a prelude to realistic implementation
  of any e-governance strategy.
• The Federal Government is called upon to review
  the current effort at e-governance in order to
  ensure its effectiveness when launched and also
  avoid any up front expenditure whose value cannot
  be justified by the results.
• The Federal Government is called upon to launch a
  National Software Development Fund to which the
  public and private sector and individuals will
  contribute to fund the activities in the NSDI
  Report without reliance on the regular National
  Budgets. Fund will be managed by the National
  Software Commission and the Bank of industry.
  More details in 4f.
• The Federal Government is called upon to approve
  the due process for government software selection
  as defined in 4e.

4
BRIEFING ON EXPECTED GOVERNMENT OBJECTIVES,
ROLES AND TARGETS
3
5
SYNOPSISIt is important to articulate at the
very beginning what should be the Federal
Government objectives in driving the growth of an
indigenous software industry. This will be
followed by the correct roles the government
should play and the measurable results it should
anticipate
3

• GOVERNMENT OBJECTIVES
• To create another source of income for the
  country in order to reduce dependence on oil thus
  improving the GDP.
• To reduce unemployment of graduates from the
  universities and harness their energies away from
  crimes and other anti-social activities.
• To promote technology transfer to Nigerians
• To lure/promote foreign investment in ICT into
  the country

6
ROLES OF GOVERNMENT
3

• Ensure a striving domestic software industry
  through deliberate patronage and other
  affirmative actions since a strong domestic
  industry leads to growing export industry and
  vice versa.
• Government should create a supportive regulatory
  environment for ICT protect intellectual
  property rights reform/update laws on ICT,
  bankruptcy, labour etc and broadly promote ICT
  literacy generally. Remove well known barriers to
  significant growth in software export such as
  high piracy rates at home, small talent pool,
  lack of engineering innovation and difficult
  business and regulatory barrier
• Government should promote its domestic software
  industry effectively by investing in government
  automation and e-government projects and
  adopting competitive procurement practices for
  software products and services and target
  investment in software education and research.
• Government should develop the export industry
  through partnering with software exporters to
  promote a national high-tech positioning,
  adopting quality assurance standards and
  simulating high risk capital and foreign
  investment inflow into the country.
• Government should play a leading role in
  providing incentives for risk capital and relax
  regulations on the use of SME and other national
  funds (like NPF, NSITF, NEF , etc) for venture
  capital.
• Remove well known barriers to significant growth
  in software export such as high piracy rates at
  home, small talent pool, lack of engineering
  innovation and difficult business and regulatory
  barriers.
• Ensure quality standards are maintained since
  there are very few regions in the world prepared
  to accept second class software
• It is the prestige of the available careers that
  draws talented young people into software which
  in turn is the key to continued development of
  software capacity. In particular, government
  hiring and human resources policies can directly
  influence the perceived value of software talents
• Government should play a leading role as a
  customer, setting requirements and standards.
• Government should establish a fund that will
  match government funds with private investment
  in new business startup and expansions.

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ROLES OF GOVERNMENT CONTINUED
3

• Government should fund research that are targeted
  at ICT development through centers of excellence
  in some designated institutions of higher
  learning
• Government should be a funder and early adopter
  of new technologies like the US Government did
  with the internet and so on
• Government should encourage state and local
  governments to address some of the constraints
  facing software SMEs such as under developed
  infrastructure, poor investment climate and
  uncertain or restrictive regulations through the
  establishment of software parks.

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TARGETED RESULTS
3

• Broad growth in the local software industry
  measured by gross value of software licensed
  locally
• Growth year or year in income earned for software
  export peaking at a minimum of 5bn by 2010
• 3. Substantial reduction in graduate unemployment
  as those previously in this category found their
  way into the software industry or ICT in general.

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DETAILS ON FIRST SET OF PROPOSALS
4
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UPDATE ON FEDERAL SECRETARIAT
4A

• Mr. President had in January 2005 kindly given
  away a wing of the old Federal secretariat in
  Ikoyi, Lagos to the Software industry for use as
  a Software Park and site for one of the software
  Engineering Institutes.
• The National Software Development Iniative (NSDI)
  has conducted a broad evaluation of the wing B,
  the burnt one of the two wings to determine the
  status of its facilities after the fire incident.
• The initial visitation revealed that
• The extent and nature of the damage done to block
  F of wing B by the fire disaster is enormous and
  total. It was not possible to give a good
  estimate of the cost of restoration.
• The other blocks D and E of wing B are intact
  although they are being occupied by different
  government organs presently.
• None of the 6 passenger lifts is working.
• Several other items of infrastructure were non
  functional NEPA, water supply, air-conditioning
  and sewage.
• Actual details of work to be done could only be
  properly assessed by an expert (consultant).
• A firm of architects participated in these
  assessments.

• A rough estimate for the restoration of the
  structure and services stands at about N10bn
  which is too high
• A request is made for some graduate assistance in
  this restoration.

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NATIONAL SOFTWARE COMMISSION
4B
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SYNOPSIS ON THE NATIONAL SOFTWARE COMMISSION
4B

• In order to take part in the booming software
  business including the satisfaction of a major
  part of domestic demand and the export of
  Nigerian built software, a whole lot of
  activities will need to be managed from one
  central point rather than through multiple
  agencies, non-governmental organizations and
  professional bodies. That single agency or hub of
  all the envisaged activities is the National
  Software Commission as shown in the drawing
  attached.
• This commission will be focused on the software
  industry rather than Information and
  Communication Technology (ICT) as a whole and
  become a vehicle for achieving both governments
  objectives, roles and expected results as shown
  in chapter three and serving the purpose of all
  other stakeholders.
• Its exact functions are listed below, followed
  by its planned composition and a few frequently
  asked questions will help clarify the role of
  this key agency.

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FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL SOFTWARE COMMISSION
4B

• The functions of the National Software Commission
  will include
• To implement the objective of the Act
  establishing the Commission.
• To formulate and implement software policies for
  the country
• To promote, develop and monitor software
  development in Nigeria.
• To promote, monitor, control and enforce
  software standards and legislation.
• To regulate the activities in the software
  industry including the benchmarking of foreign
  software products.
• To encourage and accelerate software automation
  of government functions and procedures at all
  levels.
• To manage software engineering education
  Software Engineering Training Institutes(SETI)
• To promote the establishment of software parks
• To promote and monitor IPR issues in the software
  industry.
• To establish and manage the Nigeria Software
  Development Fund
• To promote Software Nigeria internationally.

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COMPOSITION OF THE NATIONAL SOFTWARE COMMISSION
4B

• There shall be a governing board,
  which shall comprise
• A chairman who shall be appointed by the
  President.
• A vice chairman from the software industry for
  the day to day leadership of the commission
• An Executive Secretary who shall be the Chief
  Executive Officer (CEO)
• A representative of the Ministry of Science and
  Technology.
• A representative of the Ministry of Justice
• A representative of the Ministry of Education.
• 2 representatives of Institute of Software
  Practitioners Of Nigeria (ISPON).
• A representative of Nigeria Computer Society
  (NCS)
• A representative of the National Office for
  Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).
• Two other ex-officio members to be appointed by
  the President.. 
• A representative of Export Promotion Council.
• Note Only the Executive Secretary is on full
  time.

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4B
STAFFING AND BUDGETING OF THE NATIONAL SOFTWARE
COMMISSION
Beside the part time board members, only a
handful of staff and a very small budget is
envisaged for 2005. The budget need not exceed
N50m.

• EXPERIENCE FROM OTHER LANDS
• Singapore - Ministry of Information Technology
• Malaysia - National Software Board
• India - Ministry of Electronic and Software
  Development
• Chile - Software Commission
•  

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
4B

• Why not NITDA?
• NITDA is an agency for the entire
  Information and Communication Technology Industry
  and while this covers software, focus is the
  issue. An agency with wide ranging remit and
  which also acts as the Information Technology
  (IT) department of Government cannot have the
  dedication and focus to stimulate a billion
  dollar industry to the remarkable growth
  anticipated.
•   A possibility is for NITDA to be
  headed by a player from the software industry at
  all times but this will have the added
  disadvantage of ignoring the other aspects of IT
  development.
• Why not have the National Software Commission in
  the Science and Technology Ministry?
• Some of the preceding comments will
  apply once more but the Science and Technology
  Ministry have an even wider range of activities
  spanning the agriculture research Institutes,
  space agency, Information and Communication
  Technology etc. As a specialized agency in the
  Presidency, the National Software Commission will
  have instant and better access to several
  intergovernmental agencies needed for its
  activity including the National Office for
  Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP),
  Export Promotion Council, etc.

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FAQ CONTD.
4B

• Agency or Commission?
• Once the objective is clearly
  understood, National Software Commission could
  start off as any of the following
• National Software Agency
• National Software Advisory Council
•   When the appropriate legislation is in
  place the ultimate goal is to have a National
  Software Commission.

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GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
ARCHITECTURE FOR NATIONAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
INTITIATIVE
THE PRESIDENCY
INTER-MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT
NATIONAL SOFTWARE COMMISSION

• The functions of the National Software Commission
  will include
• To implement the objective of the Act
  establishing the Commission.
• To formulate and implement IT policies for the
  country
• To promote, develop and monitor software
  development in Nigeria.
• To promote, monitor, control and enforce
  software standards and legislation.
• To regulate the activities in the software
  industry
• To encourage and accelerate systems automation
  of government functions and procedures at all
  levels.
• To manage software engineering education
  Software Engineering Training Institutes(SETI)
• To promote the establishment of software parks
• To establish and manage the Nigeria Software
  Development fund.
• To promote Software Nigeria

NSDI
NCS
ISPON
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY ON SOFTWARE REGULATION
STAKEHOLDERS ASSOCIATES
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SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TRAINING INSTITUTE
(SETI)
4C
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INTRODUCTION SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TRANING
INSTITUTE
4C

• The software Engineering Training Institute
  (SETI) is a new generation training institute
  that focuses on transforming Nigerian graduates
  into software engineers that are well equipped
  with the high quality technical skills to deliver
  world class software at low-cost. The
  curriculum will cover all aspects of software
  engineering required for business computing. The
  course contents will be drawn from the
  international certification programs of
  Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco and so on.. On
  graduation, the students will be ready to address
  the manpower needs of the software industry in
  Nigeria. SETI will be an autonomous institution
  conducting teachings and consulting in software
  that will be promoted by the Federal Government
  of Nigeria. SETI will represent a model of
  Public-Private-Partnership.
•  
• SETI is designed to attract high quality
  students, eminent faculty members and private
  sector investment. Together, they will form a
  strong bond that will pursue the objectives of
  the institute.
•  

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OBJECTIVES OF SETI
4C

• The objectives of the institute
  are
• 1)     To train high quality Nigerian graduates
  of outstanding ability in software
• engineering who will be able to
  become leaders in the software industry and
  profession.
• 2)     To produce software engineering
  entrepreneurs that are able to identify, and
  analyze problems
• and proffer innovative software solutions.
• 3)     To establish a commercial division that
  will be developing software applications to
  generate
• funds for running the institute. A company
  called SETISOFT LTD will be established to
  achieve this objective
• 4)     To conduct practical based corporate
  training for both government and the private
  sector.
• 6)     To build the required manpower to meet
  the demands of the software industry in Nigeria.
   

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MISSION STATEMENT OF SETI
4C

• Our mission is To create high quality Nigerian
  Software Engineering Professionals that will
  enable Nigeria to play a key role in the global
  software industry through a world class institute
  with focus on Education, Training, Research,
  Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

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LOCATIONS OF SETIThe institute will have
campuses in various parts of the country. It will
be fashioned in a similar way to the Nigerian Law
School. Currently the three locations proposed
are Lagos, Abuja and Enugu. The three (3) schools
will start simultaneously during 2005. These
three centers will produce about 1,000 graduates
each year.
4C
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS SETI will run a twelve months
programme that will lead to the award of Diploma
In Software Engineering for Computer Science
graduates segmented into two parts. The first 6
months will cover an intensive academic
programme while the second 6 months will be spent
on practical applications of the knowledge
gained ( from the first 6 month) in software
development at SETISOFT. However, non Computer
Science graduates will undergo a 6 months
conversion programme before starting the main
12 months diploma programme.
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CURRICULUM

• The curriculum of the institute will include the
  following broad areas
• 1.   Systems analysis and design
• 2. Project Management and Documentations
• 3. Programming tools, technologies and languages.
• 4. Software architecture and re-usability
• 5. Quality assurance
• 6. Databases and certification like oracle etc
• 7. Software standards (ISO, IEE, CMM, etc)
• 8. Software Matrices and Testing
• 9. Mobile and Wireless computing
• 10. Parallel and distributed systems
• 11. Data mining and warehousing
• 12. Software security and Legal issues
• 13. Modeling and Simulation

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FACULTY The faculty should be international in
nature with Nigerian and foreigners who show
sufficient commitment to the philosophy of SETI
will be hired.   The major requirement will be
proven experience in software development.
However a faculty member should have at least a
first degree or equivalent along some
certification certificates. Faculty members may
be full time or part time and must be more
practical than theoretically inclined.
4C

• MANAGEMENT
• SETI is not established to make profit. It is to
  be promoted by the government and will be run by
  a governing body. The governing body should have
  representation from
•        Chairman
•         Rector
• Chief Executive Officer of SETISOFT      
• A representative of Nigerian University
  Commission (NUC)
• A representative of Institute of Software
  Practitioners Of Nigeria (ISPON)
• A representative of Nigeria Computer
  Society (NCS)
• 4 representatives from the private sector.

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I. SOURCES OF FUNDING OF SETI
4C

• SETI will be funded from the following sources
• School fees Students will be expected to pay
  their fees in full while scholarship will be
  provided on basis of merit.
• Corporate bodies Corporate bodies will be
  encourage to sponsor and development programs
  through donations and grants.
• Publications SETI is expected to codify its
  intellectual capital over time and distribute
  them
• Startup investment The government and other
  private sector contribution will be used to
  startup the institute.
• Affiliations to International Bodies Some
  international software companies (like Microsoft,
  Oracle etc ) that will also benefit from the
  philosophy of SETI will be contacted to
  contribute.
• Profit from the business done by the enterprise
  arm of SETI called SETISOFT LIMITED

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ESTIMATE OF INITIAL AMOUNT REQUIRED TO TAKE OFF
SETI IN EACH CAMPUS.
4C
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PROJECTED ENROLMENT, FEES AND PRICES
4C
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PROJECTED RECURRENT INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
4C
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TECHNOLOGY ACQUISATION AND CONTROL
OF FOREIGN SOFTWARE
4D
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TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION AND CONTROL OF FOREIGN
SOFTWARE
4D

• Nigeria like any other third world country
  imports a lot of software. It is evident from the
  factors on ground that not all imported software
  are needed in the country. The needed ones are
  source of technology acquisition and help to
  improve the quality of locally developed
  software.
•  
• For reasons of security and protection of local
  software industry, it is necessary for government
  to control the importation of foreign software.
•  
• Presented below are some measures that government
  should adopt to control importation of software

• Government must develop a legal framework, which
  recognizes electronic contracts, prevention of
  computer crimes, and electronic filing of
  documents.
• All local companies that want to sell foreign
  software should register with NSC, if there is no
  local representative, the company must establish
  a liaison office in the country that must be
  registered by the NSC

• Any company in Nigeria that wants to purchase
  foreign software must register with the NSC
• All foreign software to be sold in the country
  must be registered with the NSC.
• The NSC must bench mark the software, evaluate
  its relevance and cost and determine the import
  duty to be paid on it.

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TECHNOLOGY ACQUISATION AND CONTROL OF FOREIGN
SOFTWARE CONTINUED
4D

• The NSC must ensure that destination inspection
  prevents the over pricing of the software. As it
  is now, software import has become a source of
  capital flight.
• To develop and protect local software companies,
  government should increase the import duties on
  software from the current 2.5 to 60 for
  application software and to 40 for systems
  software like operating systems and database with
  effect from this fiscal year.

EXPERIENCE FROM INDIA  
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AUTOMATION OF GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
4E
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SOFTWARE COMPUTERIZATION OF GOVERNEMNT BUSINESS
4e

• SYNOPSIS
• It is very well known today that the level of
  automation in the entire government parastatals
  is quite low, which minimizes the effectiveness
  of governance at all levels and makes the fight
  against corruption quite difficult. If the
  business of governance is not transparently
  audited through the dissemination of information
  government to government and government to
  citizens and business, then corruption and
  ineffectual conduct of day to day activity will
  thrive.
• The assumption in some government agencies is
  that the procurement of computers, printers etc
  and the distribution of these to officials on the
  basis of seniority amounts to computerization.
  This is far from it since the computer is of no
  use without software applications. Software
  applications make them process and spread
  information and data. Several of the computers so
  acquired are hardly switched on at all, which
  shows them as status symbols and demonstrates the
  lack of relationship between the work of the
  official/executive and the computer on his/her
  table.
• The absence of software applications is to be
  blamed for the wasteful investment on computer
  hardware alone, coupled to a lesser extent with
  wide scale illiteracy among government officials
  in the use of information technology.
• This paper calls for a deliberate drive by
  government to automate its business including
  those of the armed services with appropriate
  software applications from the SOFTWARE NIGERIA
  BRAND.
• This is the pre-requisite to proper introduction
  of e-governance.

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AREAS OF GOVERNMENT BUSINESS LACKING IN SOFTWARE
AUTOMATION
4e

• The following activities of government are
  currently under-automated and must be
  immediately computerized, meaning automated with
  adequate software solutions
• Lands Administration
• Tax Administration
• Crime prevention, detection and management
  (police, etc)
• Legal system (Judiciary/Courts)
• Health Administration (General and Specialized
  hospitals)
• Education (Administration Schools, Bursary,
  programmes, etc)
• Accounting
• Inventory/Procurement
• Human Capital Management
• Payroll
• Government Business Intelligence
• Community Banking
• Military
• Immigration and Customs
• Prisons
• State and local Administration

36
PROBLEMS OF UNDER-COMPUTERIZATIONThe failure
of government to computerize most of its
activities has resulted ina. Poor management
of resourcesb. Wastec. Loss of scarce funds
through Ghost Workersd. Loss of Tax
Revenuee. Poor information flow and consequent
delay in decision-making and remediation of
problems.
4e

• DUE PROCESS FOR GOVERNEMNT SOFTWARE AUTOMATION
• Separate the bidding and acquisition of software
  from other IT products and services.
• Department of Planning, Research and Statistics
  to commission a study using Indigenous
  consultants and professionals (ISPON, NCS
  members) to determine the business areas of
  organization requiring software solutions or
  bespoke development.
• Call for tender by companies promoting SOFTWARE
  NIGERIA brands.
• Organize demonstrations of the proposed software
  for potential users in the software leading to a
  user driven recommendation and procurement.
• Where no packaged software solutions are
  available, identify software companies to bid for
  the development and once again involve the users
  whose jobs are to be automated.
• Where no SOFTWARE NIGERIA product is found
  suitable, then write vendors of foreign software
  whose products have been duly registered with
  National Software Commission (or the Institute of
  Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) prior
  to the set up of the commission.)

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FUNDING/FINANCE/LAUNCH OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
FUND
4F
38
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FUNDING
4F

• SYNOPSIS
• The drive into a mature software industry will
  require a substantial amount of fund in various
  areas
• a) Funding of several activity such as
• 1. National Software Commission
• 2. Software Engineering Training Institutes etc
• b) Helping Software Companies fund the building
  of software products
• c) Helping software entrepreneurs to
  establish their business.
• d) Helping software companies expand and
  embark on export drive

Therefore to develop the Software business, there
is the need to establish and fund the Software
Engineering Training Institutes and have a pool
of fund where software entrepreneurs and
companies can have access to soft credits to
fund their businesses and product development.
39
INITIAL TAKE-OFF FUND FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT.
4F

• The initial funding for the take off of the
  development of Nigeria Software Industry will
  come from donations from Government(s) and key
  players in Commerce and Industry after a clarion
  call from Mr. President highlighting the
  challenges and calling for on-the-spor commitment
  in cash for the setting up of the three (3)
  Software Engineering Training Institutes.
•  
• Sectors that are expected to donate big to the
  fund will be
• Federal Government
• State Governments
• Oil and Gas companies
• Telecommunication
• Financial Services (Banks)
• Commerce and Industry
• This amount realized from the launching will be
  used to startup the software Engineering Training
  Institutes and fund the take off of the National
  Software Commission.

40

FUNDING OF THE SOFTWARE BUSINESSTo develop the
Software business, Government should establish a
Nigerian Software Fund (NSF). The fund should
reside at Bank Of Industry managed by a board of
trustees which will be comprised of
representative of BOI, NSDI, NSC and Financial
experts. Its function will be to provide funds
for Software companies in the forms of loans,
equity participation and grants. Also, the
Stock Exchange should develop modalities for
raising software development bonds.

• RAISING MONEY FOR NSF
• Imposition of Import Duty on software Government
  should impose import duties imported software and
  50 of import duties on such software should be
  paid into the NSF.
• Venture Capital Funds The software industry
  requires an equity fund. This pool of fund could
  be mobilized from the SME fund, National Pension
  Fund, Private companies in the oil and insurance
  sectors. The government should direct the CBN to
  allocate a specific percentage of these fund for
  equity participation for investment in software
  ventures.
• Grants And Equity Investments Private sector
  companies should be encouraged to provide grants
  and equity investments in software through
  offering them tax relief.
• Imposition of ICT Development Levy Government
  should impose an ICT development levy of 2.5 on
  all imported ICT products. Fifty percent of the
  ICT development levy should be allocated to the
  NSF fund and the other 50for the development of
  other ICT activities.

41
DISBURSEMNT OF NSF
4F

• The fund will be disbursed after a credit
  appraisal of the business has been conducted and
  found feasible and approved by the board of
  trustees. It will be disbursed under two main
  types of credits
• a)        Equity Participation
• The venture capital fund will be for start-up
  business and development financing. This will be
  managed by experienced software experts and
  financial analysts who will appraise and disburse
  the funds. This credit should be structured in
  line with the Equity participation scheme of the
• SME. However, there must be a developed method
  for evaluating software investment for credit
• appraisal. The equity
  providers will also have the option of existing
  their investment after a
• minimum of 3 years
• b)        Soft Term Loans
• The NSF may be disbursed as soft term loans to
  software companies for a minimum tenor of 6
  year at an interest rate of not more than 5
  per annum.

42
CORRECT STRATEGY FOR E-GOVERNANCE
4G
43
SYNOPSIS
4G

• E-governance in the classical form should mean
  automation of government business followed by
  allowing stakeholders in business and the
  citizenry to gain access to this information in
  the course of electronic rather than physical and
  other forms of interaction.
• For this to become possible, certain prerequisite
  are necessary to ensure success and these are
• A broad acceleration of the literacy program
  across the country with measurable advances has
  to be put in place. The UBE introduced by the
  present administration is a step in the right
  direction but it needs to be re-invigorated.
• E-governance across the country for a largely
  illiterate population is meaningless.
• The next step is improved IT literacy first
  across government employees and then across a
  large body of the population. Not much is being
  done in this regard at the moment. E-governance
  with a largely IT illerate government work force
  is also meaningless.
• Computerization of government business is the
  next in priority since e-governance will work
  better if the databases of all government
  ministries and agencies and armed services
  including Police, immigration, Customs are rich
  with functions.
• Internet deployment density in Nigeria is still
  extremely low and the internet has been
  established as a basis for e-governance.

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SYNOPSIS - CONTINUED

• The deployment of Kiosk-based internet access
  across the country has its problems.
• a. Security of the Kiosks and its use in a
  country where banks can not even deploy
• ATMs for unguarded use.
• b. The lack of convenience in moving to kiosks
  rather than the use of internet access in
• homes and offices
• Gradual movement to electronic money credit and
  debit cards etc since this is the precise basis
  for e-payments. E-payments in a cash-based
  economy is also meaningless.
• Deployment of internet based e-governance in a
  gradual (pilot basis) process. A systematic roll
  out with a proper measurement will be ideal.

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WHAT IS E-GOVERNANCE?

• E-governance or Electronic governance may be
  defined as the access and delivery of government
  services and information to citizens, business
  partners, employees, other agencies and
  government entities by using Information
  Communications Technology (ICT).
•  
• Basically, e-governance will facilitate an
  efficient, speedy and transparent process for
  disseminating information to the public and other
  agencies, and for performing government
  administration activities.

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OBJECTIVES OF E-GOVERNANCE

• The objective of e-governance includes
• To provide information for adequate decision
  making
• To improve efficiency, accountability and
  transparency of all government activities
• To promote the timely dissemination of
  information for planning, organizing, staffing
  and controlling of all government activities.
• To strengthen the monitoring, controlling and
  evaluation capacity of government activities
• To rationalize the legislation and regulations
• To have a integrated system with common unified
  database to and from which all government data
  would flow and be shared by all

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THANK YOU